Fade to Black
by Verdreht
Summary: Just when Rocky thought he was starting to get used to the Machine Empire, something goes wrong in a mission. When Adam gets captured, how will the team react, and what will Rocky do to get him back? AdRock slash
1. Chapter 1

"Adam, seriously, how many times do you need to go over that history study sheet?" Rocky whined. Adam was staying over at his house for spring break while his parents were out of town, but so far, all his boyfriend had wanted to do was study. That was _not_ sleepover etiquette, even if it was just the first day. Sure, he understood that Adam needed to study – actually, he didn't get that part; the guy had a 4.0 GPA and he could fail this test and still get an A in the class – but he'd been flipping between books and his laptop and his notes in the floor for going on three hours.

And for the record, if he _was _going to study, it simply wasn't fair that he chose to do so without a shirt. Those shorts, too…. They were his running shorts, and the way Adam was laying on his stomach with his legs crossed in the air, it revealed _just_ enough of his toned thighs and black boxer briefs to drive Rocky up the wall.

"Just a few more times," Adam promised. "I'm pretty sure I've got it, I just need to run through it a few more times to be sure."

Well, screw that! If he already knew the stuff, then there was no reason for Rocky to sit there on his bed _pretending_ to be interested in the television. His mom had taken his brothers and sisters out to see a movie, so they were alone in the house, and he was going to take advantage of it.

With all the agility of a cat pouncing on its unknowing prey, Rocky hopped off the edge of his bed to stand with a foot on either side of Adam's hips. Crouching down low, he reached over Adam's shoulder to close the book he'd just been staring at.

He heard an indignant protest, and raised himself on the balls of his heels just enough to let Adam flip onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows. "I wasn't done with that, you know," Adam told him.

Rocky grinned innocently. "I know," he said. "But you are now."

"You know, I could just go somewhere else to study."

"No, you can't," Rocky replied.

"Is that so? And just how do you plan to stop me?" Adam challenged. There was a spark of amusement in his eyes, mixed with mischief that made for a decidedly potent expression.

But Rocky knew he was in the position of power, and shrugged. "I'll sit on you," he answered simply.

Unfortunately, Adam made the mistake of thinking that Rocky was kidding with that particular threat. As he started to flip back onto his stomach to get back to work on the papers, Rocky promptly sat his ass right on Adam's stomach. Of course, given the weight difference between the two of them in Rocky's favor, he didn't put _all _his weight down on his smaller boyfriend. Just enough to keep him in place and show him Rocky meant business.

"Rocky!" Adam protested, squirming to try to get loose. Nothing doing. "Get off! You're crushing me!"

With a smug grin, Rocky crossed his arms. "Make me."

He knew, the moment the words left his lips, that he _really_ shouldn't have said that. Adam's eyebrows went up in a sort of "oh really?" sort of expression, and the next thing Rocky knew, he was being pulled forward by two deceptively strong arms. As he was flipped onto his back on the floor, Rocky thanked God he had a big room. Otherwise, that would've ended in catastrophe.

As it was, though, he was rather enjoying the view. Adam had reversed their roles, and was now sitting on Rocky's hips looking for all the world like the cat that ate the canary.

Well, Rocky just couldn't let him get away with that, now could he? Grinning, he threw his weight sideways, flipping Adam onto his back on the floor and landing flat on top of him. "Ding ding ding!" Rocky shouted. "We have a winner!" Winded, he smiled down at the equally breathless Adam. "And to the victor go the spoils."

His bounty came in the form of a kiss, as he carded his hands through Adam's gently curled hair. The younger teen had been growing it out since around the time they got their Zeo powers, and now it was just long enough to brush around the tops of his ears. That made it plenty long enough for Rocky to twist his fingers into, and he was all too happy to do so.

When the two of them broke apart, just far enough for air to pass between their parted lips, Adam smiled. "So much for studying, huh?" he asked.

After stealing another kiss, Rocky replied, "Oh, we can study if you want." His grin turned wily and mischievous. "But it isn't gonna be history."

Adam blushed at that, but he didn't succumb to Rocky's roguish charm. "What about acupuncture?" he asked.

"That…wasn't what I had in mind," Rocky replied, a little confused. "Why?"

"Because I've got a whole bunch of pens sticking into my back."

Ah…Rocky hadn't thought of that. Grinning a little sheepishly, he rolled back onto his heels and offered a hand to Adam to help him up off the floor. Out of curiosity, he glanced around at Adam's bare back once they were standing. Sure enough, there were indents where he'd been lying on some pens and… "I think you were lying on a Matchbox car," he chuckled, tracing his fingers along the reddened mark.

He wasn't expecting Adam to shiver at the touch, but it did make him smile. He still couldn't get over how ticklish his younger counterpart was. Which gave him an idea…

The moment Rocky started to tickle him, Adam let out a yelp that quickly morphed into a fit of laughter. In a matter of moments, they were both laughing like made, Adam from the tickling and Rocky from the fit Adam was throwing. Eventually, they both collapsed on Rocky's bed, laughing too hard to stay upright.

"I can't breathe!" Adam choked out through gasping breaths. He'd practically curled himself into a ball trying to get away from Rocky, but it wasn't working.

"Say uncle!" Rocky commanded. He himself was laughing so hard his eyes were welling up, but it was _so_ worth it.

Adam lasted only a few more seconds – it was a valiant effort, though – before he let out a cry of, "Uncle!"

More than a little smug, Rocky released his captive and sat back with a grin. "You're a monster," Adam gasped, holding his sides.

"But you love me anyway," Rocky replied cheekily. Just as he was leaning in to show Adam that the feeling was mutual, though, a familiar and utterly unwelcome beep sounded from his wrist. All the air escaped Rocky's lungs in a groan, and he sulked as Adam pushed himself up.

"What is it, Zordon?" Adam asked, his wrist propped on his bent knee.

"Rangers, you're needed in the Command Center immediately!"

"Right away, Zordon," Rocky said. He had to resist the urge to groan again – this time, Zordon would be able to hear it – but stood from bed nonetheless. Adam followed his lead, wisely remembering to tug a shirt on before he came to stand beside Rocky. With a glance at one another, and a nod, the two disappeared in a flash of green and blue light.


	2. Chapter 2

The other rangers were already there when Rocky and Adam arrived. It was night, and judging from the looks of it, most of the rangers had already been in bed. Kat and Tanya were both in their pajamas, and even Billy was in his flannel sleepwear. Tommy and Jason weren't exactly wearing their pajamas; judging from their disheveled gi pants and tank tops, they'd been in the middle of sparring.

Not that it mattered; when Ranger business called, they answered, no matter what the time was.

"Rangers," Zordon said as they all lined up in front of his control panel, "I'm sorry for calling on you at such a time, but King Mondo has unleashed several monsters in Angel Grove."

"Several?" Tommy asked.

Zordon gave as much of a nod as they'd ever seen him give, just as grave as everything else he did. "He has sent two waves, each causing a separate disturbance on opposite sides of town. No doubt this is part of his plan to divide and conquer. The largest concentration is in the park; Prince Gasket has deployed the monsters Silo and Wolfbane from the Machine Arena with a group of cogs. Tommy, Jason, and Rocky, you will need to teleport there."

"And what about us?" Tanya asked.

"Tanya, I will need you, Adam, and Katherine to go to the school. Main Drain is attempting to drain the generator, and it is imperative that you stop him before he can become any more powerful."

Assignments given, the Rangers all began to take their places. Just as Adam was about to join Kat and Tanya, Rocky stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" he asked. It wasn't that he doubted Adam could take care of himself; he was one of the most capable people Rocky knew. He just…didn't like the idea of being separated. This whole think reeked of a trap, and it would've been bad enough if he'd been there to have Adam's back.

"Same to you," Adam replied.

Rocky smiled. "Yes, sir!" With a quick squeeze of Adam's shoulder and an offhand wave, Rocky stepped back to join Tommy and Jason on the other side of the Command Center.

As soon as everyone was in position, they all morphed in unison, and just like that, they were off.

In a flash of red, gold, and blue, the three Rangers appeared in the park. It was dark out, but even in the limited light of the streetlamps, they could make out the source of Zordon's concerns. Down at the base of the hill, near the beach, several visibly inhuman forms traipsed around in front of them.

Of course, they all stopped the moment the Tommy announced their arrival. "Isn't it a little past your bedtime?" he shouted to the creatures as they neared their location.

Suddenly, all eyes were on them.

"Rangers!" snarled Wolfbane. "About time you showed up. Now the fun can _really_ begin!"

Jason snorted. "No need to hold off on our account."

"Come on," Rocky said. "Let's take these guys down." The faster they could get that done, the faster they could join back up with the other Rangers.

"You can try!" Silo cried, and with a howl from Wolfbane, the battle began. Cogs rushed the three Rangers, but the annoying little robots didn't stand a chance. Fueled by testosterone, exasperation, and a general frustration at being called out on a Saturday night, the three teenagers ripped through the cogs in record time.

When the numbers were a lot more manageable, Jason called to Tommy a few yards away, "Come on, let's get these guys!"

"I'll cover you," Rocky said, dispatching a few more cogs even as he spoke. The two monsters were up close to each other, and it was clear the battle plan was to take them both on at the same time. Normally, Rocky would have been all too eager to get in on the action, but he knew that Tommy and Jason were a lot like he and Adam; the two were inseparable, and together, they were devilishly hard to bring down.

And, of course, there was the whole dating thing, too….Sometimes, Rocky wondered if it was something in the water. Or maybe it was just the spandex.

He was getting off track, though. There were still some more cogs to take on, and he leapt into the fray. He'd let Jason and Tommy double-team the two monsters, and he'd step in if he was needed. Otherwise, he'd just pummel these cogs until they got the green to go.

Green. God, even the word got his heart pounding faster. It didn't seem quite fair that he had that much of an effect on Rocky. He couldn't wait until he finished up here; maybe they could pick up where they'd left off, maybe snuggle up and watch one of those bad horror flicks that they loved so much.

With new incentive driving him – thoughts of resuming his night alone in the house with Adam – he threw himself into the fight with more vim and vigor than before. With any luck, this wouldn't take long at all….

"I've never really noticed how creepy this place was at night," Tanya muttered as they walked through the halls of the school. They had to get the boiler room of the school, and the only way to get there was through the janitors' room.

Adam, for one, hoped they got there soon. Tanya was right about how creepy the school looked at night. With all the students gone, and most of the lights out, it looked sort of...hollow. Abandoned. So, maybe not so much creepy as depressing. Either way, he would be happy to do what they needed to and get the heck out of dodge.

He didn't get a chance to say anything, though, because Kat beat him to it. "How much farther is it until we're there?" she asked. She and Tanya were both pretty new to the school, and though Adam hadn't even been there a year, the question was obviously addressed to him.

"It should be up in the Science Wing," he said, "so just up ahead." And sure enough, as they turned the corner into the Science Wing, they came upon the door labeled _Janitor_. "Well, looks like this is it," he said. With one gloved hand, he pushed the handle of the door, relieved to find that it gave. The janitors could rarely, if ever, be bothered to lock the doors, and luckily they hadn't chosen today to change their ways. Pushing the door open as quietly as he could, he gestured for the other two Rangers to go inside.

As it turned out, the janitor closet was not, in fact, a closet. Well, there was a sort of closet, but in the back, there was a stairwell which was exactly where they were going.

"We're following you," Kat whispered, motioning for Adam to take the lead again. He wasn't really used to this; between Tommy, Jason, and Rocky, he rarely assumed the leadership role. He was much more comfortable as a follower. Still, when times called for it, he did what he had to do, and this was one of those times.

"All right, try to stay quiet," Adam instructed. "If we can get the jump on him, we might be able to finish this quick and go help the others." Because instead of one monster and cogs, they had two and cogs, and Adam wasn't really fond of those odds.

As gracefully as he could, he started down the stairs. It was really dark down there, though there were lights coming from the end of the staircase. Behind him, he heard Tanya start to trip, and he quickly turned and grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Thanks," she said quickly.

He nodded, and he would've smiled at her, but his helmet would've made the gesture sort of pointless. "Watch your step," he said instead. He didn't want one of them to trip and hurt themselves.

As he reached the bottom of the steps, he came to a half-open door. Light poured in through the crack, and while Tanya and Kat fell in behind him, he chanced a glance around the door.

Sure enough, the whole place was alight with impossibly bright light. It wasn't warm like light bulbs or sunlight, but rather a blue electric glow that made his pupils dilate even through his visor. When his eyes adjusted, he could see figures moving back and forth.

"Cogs," he muttered. Lots and lots of cogs, all crowded around what looked to be the source of the light. Judging from the loud hum that seemed to echo in his chest, he was going to guess that source was the generator.

"Ready?" Kat asked.

"As I'll ever be," was Tanya's response.

"All right, then," Adam began, "on three. One..." He wrapped his fingers around the knob of the door. "Two…" His muscles tensed in preparation of the coming fight as Tanya and Kat tensed behind him. "Three!"

He flung the door open, and the fight was on. Cogs were on them in seconds, but he was doing his best to get past them. He had to get to that generator. "I'm going after Main Drain!" he called to Kat and Tanya, but if they heard him, they gave no indication. He didn't blame them; they had their hands full with the cogs. After dispatching a handful of cogs that got in his way, Adam made it to the source of the problem. "Main Drain!" he shouted. The monster ignored him, so Adam summoned his Zeo Hatchet and used it to knock Main Drain's spiny arms away from the generator from which it was drawing power.

Main Drain recoiled with a growl. "Power Rangers!" he snarled. To Adam's surprise, though, that snarl morphed into something else.

A laugh.

Main Drain was laughing at him, and for the longest moment, he didn't know why. Then he heard Kat scream.

"Adam!" Tanya shouted. "Help!"

He turned, and to his horror, he found his friends not only surrounded by cogs, but by two monsters that hadn't been there before. He recognized them both – Mace Face and Tarantabot – from previous battles, but they'd only ever fought them one at a time. Seeing them there, the two of them (three, including Main Drain), sent Adam's stomach sinking to the pit of his gut. There was no way the three of them could take on all of the monsters _and_ the cogs; they had to retreat, until they could regroup with the others.

Only, before he could do anything, he felt one of Main Drain's spiked arm's wrap around his shoulders. The spines scraped furrows across his chest, but that wasn't what hurt. What hurt was the current still flowing between those spikes. They sparked off Adam's suit and tensed every muscle in his body in what had to be the most painful _cramp_ Adam had ever felt.

Adrenaline alone kept him from crumpling to the ground like an unfortunate tasing victim, and closing his hands around the burning spikes, he threw all of his weight forward and flipped _over_ the arm. He landed on his feet, barely, and with a back kick hard enough to throw Main Drain off balance, he ran towards where Tanya and Kat were being held. The cogs tried to form a wall to keep him from them, but he managed to jump over them. He wasn't happy about running, but they had to get out of here.

He reached Kat first. She was being held by Mace Face, but as she saw Adam running towards her with his Zeo Hatchet, she started to struggle. Adam got to her right as she had freed an arm.

"Jump!" he shouted, and Kat did. The moment her feet were clear, he dove, swiping a leg at Mace Face's feet. The thing was top heavy, and just as Adam thought it would, it went down. With her free arm, Kat drove an elbow into the shoulder of the arm holding her, and managed to kick off of her captor and land on her feet.

"Thanks, Adam!" she called.

He nodded, and started towards a struggling Tanya. "Don't mention it."

Tanya wasn't being held like Kat was, but she had her hands full taking on Tarantabot. As much as Adam would've liked to put the monster down, though, he knew getting everyone out safe had to be the priority. He just had to find some way to get Tanya free too.

His opening came as Tanya was sent sailing by a hit from the Tarantabot. He and Kat ran to her and he ended up half dragging her to her feet. He knew that hit had to hurt, but she _had_ to get up. Still, she wasn't walking on her own, and there was no way they would be able to get her out without a distraction of some sort.

And suddenly, he felt that familiar sinking in his gut. He had to get Kat and Tanya out, and to do that, they needed a distraction.

He would be the distraction.

"Kat, help Tanya out," he said, handing Tanya to his friend. Kat pulled her arm over her shoulder, but she didn't start for the stairs.

"What about you?" she demanded.

His lips set in a grim line beneath the mask. "I'll hold them off until you two get clear, and then I'll be right behind you," he said.

"No, Adam, you can't—"

"Just go!" Adam shouted, and turned back to the fight just in time to block an incoming hit from Tarantabot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kat hesitate. "Go!" And finally, she did.

He'd only looked for a second to make sure that she was gone, but that second was all that Main Drain needed. With a sparking fist, the monster sent a punch square into Adam's ribs. All the air left his lungs in a rush, and he was sent sailing into the door through which Kat had just helped Tanya.

Agony ripped through Adam's whole body as the cogs and monsters descended on him. Hits bludgeoned his sides and back and everywhere else the monsters could reach, and everywhere he'd touched Main Drain, his skin felt like it was on fire.

"Adam!" Kat screamed through the door.

"I'll be fine! Go!" he shouted. "Get the others!" In a last ditch effort, he pushed himself off the ground and tried to send a kick into Mace Face's chest plate. He thought it would throw him off enough to let Adam slip through the door.

Instead, he felt razor sharp claw close around his ankles, pulling his leg out straight and nearly throwing him off balance. He saw Tarantabot raise a fist, saw it coming down towards his outstretched knee, and everything seemed to go in slow motion.

Kat and Tanya had only just managed to scramble up the stairs when they heard Adam scream.


	3. Chapter 3

Rocky was confused. They had been fighting, and suddenly, the monsters just left. Not seconds later, Zordon had teleported the three of them back to the Command Center. That was where they were now, having just taken their helmets off.

They hadn't even gotten a chance to ask Zordon what was going on before flashes of pink and yellow appeared on the opposite side of the room. Moments later, Kat and Tanya materialized in their places.

"They've got him!" Tanya exclaimed the moment they were solid again. She tugged her helmet off as she spoke, and rushed forwards towards Zordon.

At those three words, Rocky felt his heart leap into his throat. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. They had one of them, and he may not have been the brightest bulb in the box, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that a color was missing from their group.

"Kat, where's Adam?" he demanded. He closed the distance between himself and the girls in three short steps, coming to tower over them.

A look crossed both their faces, on that looked like a mix between desperation and…was that guilt? "They've got him," Kat said softly. There were tears in her eyes, but right about then, Rocky couldn't have cared less. Not after he heard the three words that came next, the three words that sealed his horror. "They've got Adam."

The first thing that hit him through his shock was the weight of the words. They knocked the air out of his lungs and nearly took the strength from his legs. Vaguely, he realized that Kat and Tanya were still talking, explaining what happened. Explaining how they'd been ambushed and how Adam had sent them up the stairs. Explaining how they'd teleported away and left Adam trapped in the basement with those monsters.

That brought along the next feeling – anger. Fury so hot and burning that he felt tears well in his eyes. "You left him?" he screamed suddenly, throwing his helmet to the ground beside him. "He was screaming – _screaming_ – and you left him there?" Before he knew what he was doing, he was reaching for them. What he was going to do, he didn't know. Strangle them, maybe. Maybe he'd hit them. He didn't hit his friends, but they'd left the love of his life – _their _"friend" – behind for God only knew what to happen to him, so maybe they weren't his friends after all.

He'd hardly even raised his hands, though, before he felt two pairs of arms grabbed him from behind, wrestling him back. "Let me go!" he shouted, trying to wrench his shoulder free. Jason and Tommy each had a side, pulling him back away from the two girls. When he realized he couldn't get loose, he lashed out the only way he could. "He protected you! He's your friend, for God's sake! How could you leave him?"

He was well aware there were furious tears streaming down his face. Adam had been _screaming_, and they'd left him behind.

"He told us to, Rocky! We didn't want to leave him, but there was nothing we could do," Tanya said.

But Rocky wasn't convinced. "I don't care what he said; you don't leave your friend behind so long as you've got breath in your body and strength enough to stand. You don't leave _Adam_ behind with a bunch of monsters!"

"Rocky, man, calm down," Tommy told him. "It's not their fault."

He knew that. Honestly, he really knew that, in his head. But the head and the heart were two entirely different entities, and it wasn't his head that was pounding a mile a minute. And finally, the last of the emotions hit him.

Grief.

The machines had Adam. That alone would've been bad enough, but they'd been _hurting_ him. Adam was one of the toughest guys Rocky knew; it would've taken a lot to make him scream. And now, he was at those monsters' mercy.

As if sensing the change in his friend, Jason rested a firm and reassuring hand on his chest. "We'll get him back, Rocky." He himself knew a little of what Rocky was going through; when Prince Gasket had taken Tommy, he'd thought he would go mad. Granted, as far as he'd known, Tommy hadn't been getting pummeled by a bunch of monsters before he went missing, but he could at least sympathize with the whole "missing boyfriend" thing.

Wordlessly, Rocky nodded. Of course they'd get him back. They had to get him back. _Rocky_ would get him back, if he had to go to the moon and take on the whole Machine Empire by himself.

Tommy and Jason finally let him go, and as Kat and Tanya watched him with sympathetic frowns, he did his best not to glare at them. That said, he still wasn't going to apologize. They'd still left his boyfriend, his best friend, his _Adam_ behind to get captured by those machines. Even if they hadn't meant to, even if they hadn't had a choice, he couldn't help holding the grudge. He promised himself he'd let it go when he had Adam in his arms again.

"Rangers," Zordon started, effectively catching the attention of all five of the teens present, "I understand that this is a very trying situation, but you cannot afford to be hostile to one another."

Rocky got the feeling that comment was directed to him, and if it had been any other situation, he would've probably had the grace to blush. As it was, he couldn't really care less what Zordon had to say, unless it had something to do with getting Adam back.

So, on that note, "What are we going to do?" he asked.

"Alpha and Billy are already working on triangulating Adam's position," Zordon said. Huh, Rocky hadn't even noticed them there, but sure enough, the genius and Alpha were both poring over the controls.

Tommy walked up to the backs of the controls, looking over them at what Billy and Alpha were doing. "Have you found anything?"

"We're working as fast as we can," Billy assured him. "It shouldn't be long, though. I don't think they've returned to their base on the moon."

"You mean they're still in Angel Grove?" Rocky asked. A flicker of hope lit up in his chest at that. If he was still here, then they could just go and get him. They'd get him if he was on the moon, but this would be easier and (hopefully) much faster.

Billy nodded. "Affirmative," he said.

"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Alpha exclaimed suddenly.

Jason turned to him. "What is it, Alpha?" They'd all been Rangers long enough to know that noise didn't mean good things.

The robot was holding his discus-shaped head, shaking it back and forth. "They're moving too much for me to lock onto their position! We will need to recalibrate the frequency modulators to enhance triangulation."

It seemed like a safe bet to say that Billy was probably the only human being that knew precisely what Alpha meant by that. Rocky knew it meant that there was a hang-up, though, and hang-ups meant delays. "How long?" he asked. "Until you can get it up and running, I mean."

Billy pursed his lips and punched a few more things into the keyboard. "We can't be sure, but it could be hours."

And with that, the weak flicker of hope was effectively doused by another wave of misery. Hours. It could be hours before they were able to even start trying to find Adam, and meanwhile, his boyfriend was suffering alone. He knew, logically, that others had been missing longer; Tommy, for instance, had been gone longer when he'd been kidnapped. But he hadn't been hurt, as far as they knew. He hadn't been beaten down by a bunch of monsters.

"He'll be okay, Rocky," Tanya said. It was the first time she'd spoken since he'd chewed her out, and she _still_ wasn't making any friends. He appreciated the effort and all, but he wouldn't be satisfied that Adam was okay until he had him back safe.

Meanwhile, Jason had turned back to Zordon. "Is there something we can do in the meantime?" he asked, adjusting the helmet he'd tucked under his arm.

"Return home, Rangers, but keep yourselves available for contact. We will call on you as soon as Billy and Alpha find something."

That wasn't what Rocky wanted to hear. Arguing wasn't going to get anything done, though, and he allowed himself to be teleported back into his bedroom.

But that wasn't where he stayed. Powering down, he snatched his duffel bag up off the ground and started to pack it. He threw some flashlights in, and a first aid kit just in case. He changed clothes, too – his basketball shorts and t-shirt were replaced with some jeans and a blue thermal – and then he was off. Pausing only to grab his keys, sneakers, and a jacket, he ran out the door and sped out of the driveway in his red pickup truck.

After all, Zordon had told them to come home. That meant he probably shouldn't morph, but it didn't mean he couldn't contribute to the search the old fashioned way.

He only made it halfway down his street before a familiar red Suzuki Sidekick pulled up beside him. As Jason stepped out of the driver's seat and came up to his door, he put the car in park and rolled the window down.

"We were just coming to offer you a ride," Jason told him, jabbing his thumb back towards the car where Tommy waited in the passenger seat. It did confirm his suspicions that they'd been spending the night together, not that it was particularly important right about then.

"Thanks, but I've got my truck," Rocky told him.

Jason nodded, but wasn't about to let it go that easily. "Yeah, you do, but your truck seats three. The Sidekick seats five and then some, and the more hands you can get on your impromptu search party, the better."

He had a point. Actually, Rocky felt a little silly, now. It wasn't that he didn't trust Billy and Alpha to do what they needed to do; he just couldn't sit on his hands and do nothing while they did it.

At least he wasn't the only one, though.

"C'mon, man," Jason pressed. The Gold Ranger was worried about his friend. Rocky had calmed down a lot since he first found out about what happened to Adam, but he was still wound tight enough to snap. He could see it in the white-knuckled grip Rocky had on the steering wheel, and the way his knee bounced by the dash. It seemed to Jason he was just one frayed nerve away from exploding, and he for one did _not_ want Rocky to have that explosion behind the wheel of a relatively large vehicle. "Just pull your car back into your driveway and hop in with us."

Rocky was as hesitant as Jason thought he would be, but to both his and Tommy's relief, he finally nodded and backed his truck back into the driveway of his house. Grabbing the roll beam in the back of Tommy's car, he hefted himself into the back seat. As soon as Rocky was buckled in, Jason pulled out into the street again. What they would accomplish, they didn't know. But at least they were doing something.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Adam was aware of was a spike of pain lacing through his whole body. It felt like every one of his limbs seized up at once, and it took all he had not to cry out through his clenched teeth. The feeling faded quickly – though not quickly enough – and left behind an odd sort of tingling. Compared to the rest of his aches, the sensation was almost welcome, and in the darkness behind his eyelids, he had half a mind to fade back into that blanket of blackness that had so soothingly embraced him moments before.

Sadly, he wasn't given that option. "Wake up, puny little Ranger," sneered a voice. It seemed so far off, but he still knew it. Main Drain. "The great Prince Gasket wants to talk to you."

Adam had never really liked machines, not even before all of this mess. But at least his toaster was never pretentious.

He let out a chuckle, and somehow managed to force himself into a seated position. Even though he knew he was up the creek, he still had his pride, and if they wanted to be snobs, then he could at least hold his own aching head up high. "I'm sure he does," he muttered, not a little mockingly. "Surrounded by you guys all day, he's probably looking for a little intelligent conversation."

The hard smack that landed on the side of his head made the smile leave his face, but only for a moment. He forced it back to all its gloriously mocking, annoying splendor, even though the way it crinkled his eyes made the side of his face sting. Un-morphed and so tired and beat up he could hardly stand, there wasn't much else he could do.

"Smile while you can, Black Ranger," said a voice, and slowly, a new body came into view in the limited light. It was all very cliché, he thought a little dazedly. The room was small and dark, and the floor he was sitting on was littered with rusted nails and glass shards. Overhead, there was only one swinging light bulb to illuminate the room, and it barely did its job. Not that he was particularly interested in seeing the scene in front of him right at this moment.

There stood Prince Gasket and his less-than-lovely Archerina, looking down at him with their arms crossed over their metallic chests. He had half a mind to stand up, if only to spite them, but the chains around his wrists and ankles prevented him from moving much past where he was. The way the glass beneath him was biting into his bare legs – jogging shorts and a t-shirt weren't exactly the best protection against his dilapidated surroundings – kept him from moving much too, even though the splintered wood wall he leaned against scraped his back painfully.

"I plan to," Adam retorted. He gave the chains around his wrist a defiant jerk, and pretended not to feel the bite of the rusted metal on his skin. "You, on the other hand, might not be quite so chipper when my friends come knocking." The words sounded a lot more confident than he felt; last thing he remembered, he'd sent Kat off with a stunned Tanya, and Rocky, Tommy, and Jason had been up to their ears in other monsters. Besides, judging from his surroundings, he wasn't exactly in an easy-to-find location. He guessed it was at least safe to say he wasn't on the moon, though. That was something, wasn't it?

Either way, Gasket didn't have to know about his doubts. So far as that stuck-up Easy Bake Oven knock-off had to know, he was cool as a cucumber.

A beat up, bruised, and frankly sort of pissed off cucumber.

Prince Gasket, of course, let out one of his pretentious little laughs. It seemed like that was part of the standard programming for these machines, and Adam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His eye, the right one, hurt too much anyway, thanks to Main Drain's backhand. He could feel something warm and wet slowly working its way down the side of his face, and he got the feeling there would be more than a bruise above his eye once he finally got the chance to look at it.

"Poor little Ranger," Archerina giggled. "He thinks his friends are coming for him. Well, my lovely, _trapped_ black rat, I have a secret for you." She walked up to him, leaning over so that her face was only a foot or two from Adam's. "They aren't. They don't know where you are, and they don't care. You silly thing; you don't _matter_. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Though her lips, cast in metal, couldn't move, he could've sworn she was smiling. So, he smiled a smile of his own, so cheeky and saccharine that he could almost feel his blood sugar rising. And just when he saw the question pass behind her LED-lit eyes, he struck. The chains didn't give him much leeway, but they gave him enough, and in one quick motion, he hooked the fingers of one hand in the necklace around her neck and pulled her closer. With his free hand, he struck out with his palm to the left side of her face. Instantly, pain lanced up his arm – metal was not a very forgiving texture – but he still counted himself the victor as she reeled back with a cry. Her articulated fingers clutched at the side of his face, but they left just enough of a gap for him to see his handiwork. It seemed with the admittedly cheap shot, he'd broken off the tip of her hair, and smashed through one of her eyes.

"How dare you!" shouted Prince Gasket. Adam already knew he was in for it, but he told himself it was worth it. He wasn't beaten down, and he wasn't broken. He was going to put up a fight, and he knew he was going to take the punishment for it.

That didn't help when that punishment came, though. The prince strode forward and raised his foot off the ground, and before Adam could do anything to stop it, he brought the heel of his boot straight down on Adam's already-throbbing left knee.

The sharpest pain Adam had ever felt shot up his leg, and as a flash of white exploded behind Adam's eyes, he slid to the ground in a boneless heap.

Satisfied with his revenge, Prince Gasket turned and strode out of the room after his beloved Archerina. Main Drain was close behind, and slammed the door behind him as he left.

A few moments later, Adam opened his eyes. They were gone; his trick had worked. Well, maybe not a trick entirely. The rolling of his stomach and the tunneling of his vision had him thinking he'd pass out soon, but he couldn't afford to. This was his chance to escape, and he was going to take it.

Bringing his hands together in his lap, he started to work on getting out of the manacles. They were tight, but not tight enough. Rocky had always teased him for having such narrow hands; well, now they were a blessing. As the metal continued to bite into his wrist, he twisted it, contorting his fingers until finally, his hand slipped out. The next hand received the same treatment, and with raw, bleeding wrists, he started to crawl forward. He couldn't even put weight on his left knee without stars exploding behind his eyes, but after a few moments of reaching, he managed to get his hands on one of the nails lying on the floor a little ahead of him.

Making a mental note to thank Aisha for teaching him her mad lock-picking skills the next time he wrote her, he started working on the locks around his ankles. He wished he could've had the nail for when he was getting his hands free, but he couldn't have reached it then. Now, the last two shackles came off a lot easier.

Struggling to his feet – he couldn't straighten his left leg, so he ended up using the wall to help himself up - he started to look around the room. They'd turned the lights off when they left, but he noticed that it wasn't quite as dark as he thought it would be.

All he had to do was turn around to figure out why that was. There was light pouring in through a small crack in the wall. On closer inspection, he found that it was coming through between two planks in the wall. It looked like…a boarded-up window?

Surely his luck wasn't that good.

Pressing his face up against the planks, he peered through the slit and found that miraculously, his luck was, in fact, _that_ good. There was water outside, and he figured that he was somewhere near the warehouse district. If he could just get outside, he could find some place to hide until Rocky and the others could get there.

First things first, though: he had to get out of there somehow.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment Rocky heard the beep from his wrist, he froze in place. It was getting to be morning, and they had been searching the park, just in case. As he brought the communicator to his wrist, Tommy and Jason both came jogging up.

"Did you find something?" he asked before Zordon could even get a word out.

"Indeed," came Zordon's voice through the communicator, and Jason and Tommy both shared a look of relief. And, just in case, they both put a hand on Rocky's shoulders. Whether he'd pass out or freak or whatever, they just wanted to be prepared. "Billy and Alpha have traced Adam's location to the waterfront warehouses. Meet Tanya and Katherine there; Billy has given them a device to help track Adam's position in real time. And Rangers, be careful. Prince Gasket has deployed a number of forces to the location."

"We're on our way," Rocky said.

Tommy stepped to the front of the group, bringing his Zeonizers together in front of him. "It's morphin' time!"

Just as Zordon had said, Kat and Tanya were waiting for them when they arrived at the warehouses. They, too, were already morphed, and as they gathered, Tommy was already giving instructions.

"Don't fight unless you have to," he said. "We need to get Adam out before anything else, so let's focus on finding him."

Rocky, for one, was all too happy to go along with that plan, and so were the others. Nodding, they all started quietly towards the warehouse, following the tracker Tanya held in her gloved hands.

They didn't really need to have had the tracker, though. They got within a few dozen yards of the signal, and found a group of cogs disappearing into a run-down old warehouse. The thing looked about one huff or puff away from having its house blown down, but that wasn't what they were paying attention to.

"There's something weird going on with this tracker," Tanya announced as they crouched behind a stack of crates in front of the warehouse.

"What is it?" Jason asked, peering over her shoulder at the handheld screen.

Instead of Tanya, Kat was the one answering. "The dot...it's still moving. But we've stopped!" she whispered.

Sure enough, she was right. Slowly, steadily, the dot was moving closer to their position, and the distance counter was getting lower and lower. "Do you think they're moving him?" Tanya asked.

Tommy shook his head. "It's moving too slow for that. But look, it's coming around the back side of the warehouse. We should be able to see here in a-"

"No way..." Jason whispered. He was peering around the side of the crates, and though his helmet obscured where his eyes were really focusing, Rocky followed his gaze.

His response was a lot less subdued. "Adam!" he exclaimed. After at least having the sense to look around to make sure the coast was clear, he bolted before any of the others could say anything. Of course, they weren't far behind him.

Adam was just passing the corner of the warehouse when Rocky started towards him. Moving a lot slower than he would've liked because of his leg and his splitting headache, he was having to devote all his focus to putting one foot in front of the other. It was only when he heard his name, and the familiar voice that shouted it, that he looked up.

He could've collapsed right then out of relief. A wall of colors, barely visible in the night, were coming towards him, headed by a figure in blue. They were moving a lot faster than he was, and reached him before he made it halfway to the boxes they'd just appeared from behind.

The moment he got close enough to put his arms around Adam, that's exactly what he did. He put his arms around his narrow shoulders and pulled him into a hug, reveling in the feel of having him again. It was only when he heard Adam suck in a harsh breath through his teeth that he forced himself to release him.

That was right about when the others reached them. "Adam, we're so glad you're okay," Kat said, and she was. She'd been so worried about her younger friend, especially after he'd saved her and Tanya.

In return, she got one of Adam's winning grins. The Korean opened his mouth to say something, but Jason beat him to it.

"We should get out of here," he said.

"Yeah," Tommy said. "We'll need to teleport back to the Command Center. We should take cover behind those crates over there first, though; we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

As they started to walk, though, Rocky noticed something was wrong. Adam was limping, and heavily, but that grin was still on his face.

"Adam…?" he started anxiously, reaching out a hand to steady his boyfriend.

"I told them," Adam said, and he was looking straight at Rocky. "I knew you'd come." And just like that, with his next step, Adam dropped like a rock.

Thankfully, Rocky managed to catch him in time, hooking an arm behind his shoulders and turning him over to find that Adam was apparently out cold. Panic lanced through his veins as he started to notice things he'd missed earlier: the cuts all over Adam's body, the coppery-brown stains on his otherwise green t-shirt, and the rapidly-swelling gash over his right eye.

"Rocky, we need to go," Jason said quickly. He was worried, too, but this wasn't the place to deal with it. Rocky seemed to understand that, too, and hooking an arm under Adam's knees, he lifted his smaller boyfriend up into a bridal carry. He was so light…Rocky was able to sprint over behind the boxes, where the others were waiting to teleport. Multi-colored light flashed, and the Rangers disappeared.

The moment they arrived in the Command Center, Rocky was moving. He made a bee-line straight for the medical table, and as gently as he could, he lowered his still-unconscious boyfriend onto it while Tommy told Alpha and Billy they were needed.

"Help me get his t-shirt off," Rocky called to Jason, and the other teen hurried over to the other side of the table. Rocky helped lift Adam's torso up while Jason pulled the t-shirt up over his head. The moment it was up, Jason winced sympathetically; Rocky wasn't far behind. There were scrapes all over Adam's back, some deeper than others, bruises littered his torso. The most color was concentrated around his chest, mostly on his right side, and Rocky was immediately worried that something might be broken. Still, the worst were the three parallel cuts that stretched from his left shoulder all the way down to the bottom of the bruise mass on his right ribs; the way the edges were angry and red and dark, it looked almost like he'd been burned.

Right as Rocky was lowering Adam back to the green surface of the medical table, Billy slid in beside Jason by the bedside monitors. "You need to attach the electrodes so we can start getting his vitals," Billy said, and Jason nodded, fishing the bundle of wires and sticky nodes out from one of the table's refrigerated drawers. Tommy came over to help, and the three teens set to work while Kat and Tanya helped Alpha by the control panel.

_He was cold. He didn't know why, but he was cold, and every few seconds, a new jolt of iciness would spark from a new spot on his chest. Each jolt was accompanied by a pressure, which would sometimes – when the pressure was in a particularly sensitive spot – send pain shooting through the area. And people were talking. They were all around him, and he could feel tendrils of something, like wires, stretching across his skin. _

_ Wires. Machines. The machines had him. He thought he'd escaped, but they'd captured him again!_

Tommy, Rocky, and Jason were almost done attaching the electrodes, but suddenly, a gasp sounded and made them all freeze. In an instant, Adam was sitting up, reaching for the wires they'd so painstakingly placed.

Instinctively, Rocky reached across to his un-injured shoulder while Jason and Tommy each grabbed a hand to hold in place. "Hey, hey, easy," Tommy said soothingly. The electrodes they'd already attached were sending signals to the monitors at the table, and his heartbeat had skyrocketed.

It wasn't until Rocky spoke that Adam seemed to snap out of it. "Shh, Ads, it's okay," he told him as Adam tugged uselessly at his captive arms. "We've got you, now. You're safe." After a few blinks, Adam relaxed a little. His heart was still pounding, but he wasn't struggling anymore. "There you go, bro. Just lay back and take it easy, okay?"

It was the tenderness in his voice more than anything that had Adam nodding slowly, and the younger teen allowed Rocky to ease him back onto the medical table. He suddenly realized why he was so cold; he was in the Command Center, lying there shirtless and in the most unsubstantial shorts he owned.

But that…didn't make sense. Last thing he remembered, he was walking barefoot through the waterfront. He'd just escaped, and…and…God, his head hurt. He couldn't think straight. "Rocky," he started, "where…how?"

In any other situation, Rocky would've thought the dazed look on Adam's face was adorable. As it was, though, he just felt more sympathetic as he brushed his hands through Adam's sweat-dampened, dirt-dusted hair. "You got all impatient on us and broke yourself out. We found you, and brought you here." As he spoke, he made sure to avoid the knot and the gash running alongside Adam's temple just over his eye, and was relieved to see the gesture seemed to relax Adam a little.

Or, at least, it did, until Jason picked up where he'd left off with the diodes. There were only three left, but when he placed the first, Adam jumped like he'd been shot.

"Sorry, man, did I hurt you?" Jason asked. With the number of bruises all over him, it was hard to avoid putting the electrodes on top of them.

Adam shook his head, but promptly decided that didn't do good things for his head. Swallowing, he said instead, "Cold," and decided that was a satisfactory answer. Cold or not, though, he sat still while Jason finished sticking on the last two.

"All right, Billy, he's all hooked up," Tommy said.

Raising a curious eyebrow – _not_ the one that was split and bruised – Adam started to try to sit up. "All hooked up?" he asked, doing his best to push himself up onto his elbows. It would've been a success, but Rocky and Jason had other ideas. They each grabbed an elbow and pulled them out to his sides, using them to lower him back down to the medical table.

"Just lie still for a bit, okay?" Rocky told him. "You need to let Alpha have a look at you."

He knew that. Really, even despite the fog that continued to cling stubbornly to his mind, he knew that he probably needed to be looked after for a while. He didn't _want_ it, though. He didn't want to be the center of attention, he didn't want to be "all hooked up" and he most certainly didn't want to be poked and prodded while Alpha patched him up. No, he wanted to go home with Rocky and sleep for a decade and pretend this had never happened.

"I know, babe, but you're in pretty bad shape right now," Rocky said gently, brushing some stray strands of hair out of Adam's face. "Just let Alpha take care of you, and then I'll take you home and you can sleep as long as you want."

Oh. He'd said all that out loud.

"Yeah, you did," Jason told him.

And he'd done it again.

"Afraid so," Billy said from somewhere near his feet.

Adam tried and failed to keep back a pout. It wasn't his fault his brain-to-mouth filter was off; he was just so tired. "My head hurts," he muttered, reaching up to feel the side of his head.

To his dismay, though, his hand was intercepted. "Believe me when I say you don't want to be touching that," Rocky told him. "That's a heck of a goose egg."

Adam chuckled despite himself. "I believe you," he said. "Main Drain, he—" he paused to yawn, "—he hit me after I laughed at Gasket. It was worth it, though." He yawned again, and suddenly decided that wasn't right. He shouldn't be getting so tired... "Rocky?" he asked, and found even in the short time that had passed, his tongue seemed to have grown heavier. "Tired…why?"

Only, it wasn't Rocky that answered. "It's the stasis generator," Billy explained to him, but he sounded far away. "It's a lot like falling asleep."

At that, Adam frowned. "Don't wanna pass out again," he said, trying hard to keep from slurring. He'd passed out twice already, and two times was plenty, thanks.

Rocky smiled sympathetically. "Think of it like taking a nap, then," he suggested.

That didn't sound so bad, actually. He was so tired, and come to think of it, it'd be nice not to be awake while Alpha was doing his thing.

Not that he got a chance to explain all that, because before he could even open his mouth again, the world went black.


End file.
